Due to their exposed sites and due to their heights wind turbines show preferred spots for lightning strikes. In this case a large amount of energy is dissipated into the wind turbine structure.
It is known to protect wind turbines according to the guideline IEC 61400-24 with a so called “Lightning Protection Level (LPL)” of “1”. For this the wind turbine must be able to withstand a specific energy of 10 MJ/Ohm with a respective peak current level of 200 kA.
Lightning impacts need to be detected and followed up to assure that wind turbine components show no failures. If a failure is detected the wind turbine needs to be stopped early enough to prevent further damages.
For example a punctual damage of a wind turbine blade may lead to a damage of the whole wind turbine, if the punctual damage is not taken into account.